


Misconceptions

by tomcatgirl



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, All Human, Cheating, Happy Ending, Stiles and Derek get the short end of the stick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 04:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4990369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomcatgirl/pseuds/tomcatgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles introduces his boyfriend to his best friend Lydia for the first time. Unfortunately Stiles and Lydia have agreed not to date each other's exes, which means trouble for Stiles and Derek. While sorting this out, another issue comes to light that makes Stiles question who his true friends are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misconceptions

“What's wrong with you, Stilinski? You've been especially...perky the last few weeks,” Lydia said over her file. Stiles grinned at her from his desk as he rocked his chair back and forth.

“Very keen of you to notice, Lydia. I have, in fact, met someone,” he said happily. She frowned and dropped the case file on her desk.

“And you have told me exactly nothing about him?” she hissed. Stiles just grinned and shook his head. Lydia stood and strode across the aisle to lean menacingly over her friend's desk. “Stiles. I demand any and all information about him.”

“So you can scare him off like you did Jackson?” She flinched at that, but he continued. “I was going to invite you to dinner with us tomorrow so that I can introduce the two of you.” She stood up with a surprised smile.

“You already planned this?” Stiles leaned back in his desk and flipped open the dental records of the man on their metal table.

“Of course. If I didn't introduce him to you before our six month then I don't think he'd be right,” he chuckled.

“Excuse me? Six month?” she questioned as she pulled the files from his hand and slammed them on the desk.

“Oh my god, Lydia, yes. It's been a while. But I really like him, and I think he's the one, and I just wanted to be sure before I let the two of you meet.” Lydia sighed and looked down at him. Stiles had had pretty bad luck with dating, and if this guy could make Stiles act the way he had been for the last few months, then she'd have to deal with it.

“Alright. Dinner tomorrow.”

\-----

“Calm down, Stiles. We're early,” Lydia sighed as she checked her watch again. Not by much, she told herself, but this was for Stiles. He fidgeted in his seat before he stood with a happy noise and moved towards the front of the restaurant. A tall man met him halfway, a tall man with dark hair and a strong body who looked extremely familiar. “Derek?” she questioned, voice frosty. Stiles didn't seem to notice as he pecked Derek on the lips and slid his hands into the taller man's to pull him over. Derek paused when he saw Lydia.

“Stiles,” he said softly, warily. Stiles looked up at him, bright eyes dimming as he looked back and forth between him and Lydia.

“What? Why are you guys,” he stopped and his eyes widened. “No. No way.”

“Stiles, you know what we promised,” Lydia said softly. Stiles' grip tightened on Derek's hand and he shook his head violently.

“No. You never told me about Derek. You never mentioned him, there was no way I knew you dated him!” he cried desperately. Lydia frowned and turned her gaze to Derek, who glared back as he wrapped an arm around Stiles.

“Lydia.”

“Derek.”

“Do you force everyone to promise you things?” he asked, judgment in his voice.

“Only when I know that it'll be best for everyone,” she replied angrily. “And Stiles isn't going to break his promise because he knows that.” Stiles let out a heavy breath, but Lydia continued. “I'm not going to let him get hurt when I know how to stop it, and you're no good. You promised that you wouldn't date my friends and Stiles and I promised not to date each other's exes. Which you are. So you should go, Derek,” she finished. Stiles choked and looked up at Derek, panicked. He looked down at him and wrapped a hand around the back of his head to pull it to his shoulder. He murmured something into Stiles' ear.

\-----

“We'll figure this out.”

Lydia watched the two of them, arms crossed and a frown on her face. Derek held Stiles more closely and more firmly than he ever had with her, he held Stiles more gently and more securely. He was at ease and soft in a way that he hadn't been with her while still exuding strength and confidence. Stiles was more mellow in his presence. She shook her head as Derek pulled away with a pained grimace and left the restaurant without looking at her. She looked at Stiles and almost whimpered when she saw him.

His face was twisted in agony, bottom lip clamped tightly between his teeth, the skin around his eyes tightened as tears leaked from his eyes, and a splotchy blush covered his face. The rest of the diners were politely ignoring them as Stiles clenched his fists and glared at her. “Stiles,” she began, but he cut her off with a look, one of the most heart-wrenching, terrifying looks she had seen from him.

“I don't want to hear it, Lydia.”

“I know you don't, but you've got to hear it, Stiles! He's not a good person!”

“How the hell would you know that?” he asked as he spread his arms in indignation. “How long did you date him, anyway? When did you date him?” She let out a breath and gestured to the table. He remained silent but sat mutinously.

“While you were dating Jackson,” she said softly. Stiles whipped his eyes to her with a frown.

“And what, you couldn't tell me?”

“You were having enough problems. I didn't want to flaunt anything.”

“Flaunt? It obviously didn't work out between the two of you,” he sneered. Lydia scoffed.

“He's an asshole. He was rude and he broke up with me, so I don't know what you want me to say.”

“He didn't give any reason for breaking up with you?”

“No,” she replied stiffly. “He said that we wouldn't work, and that was it.”

“You were right, Lydia, he is an asshole, but so am I. And we balance each other out. He makes me happy.”

“Other people will make you happy, Stiles,” she muttered.

“Not like Derek does,” he countered.

“Jesus, Stiles, just count him as a good fuck and move on! That was all he was good for, he was never there for me and he wouldn't give me a reason why!”

“He wasn't there for you because his sister just died!” he hissed, and she froze. “He was too busy trying to keep himself from falling apart to cater to your every whim. And for the record, Lydia, we haven't had sex yet,” he said as he stood. He place his linen napkin on the table. “We were waiting until I introduced you.” With that, he stalked out of the restaurant, leaving Lydia to her meal.

\-----

Lydia watched Stiles through the next week. He wasn't his usual self, not that he'd be pathetic enough to pull a Bella Swan, but he just didn't talk. To anyone. He communicated in nods and post-its that he left on his computer screen, but he got the job done. He got everything done with a startling efficiency that worried everyone. The rest of the team began to bug Lydia about him, ask her what was wrong, told her to do something. The office was too quiet, everything ran too smoothly without Stilinski mucking things up. Even Greenberg pulled her aside and mentioned that Stiles was too quiet.

“Stiles,” she sighed as he brushed past her that night. He didn't answer. “Please, Stiles, you're worrying everyone.” He paused, back still to her, and shrugged before he left. Lydia clambered into her car later that evening and pointed it to the industrial district. She found herself outside the large apartment building in no time, and in front of Derek's door a few minutes later. She knocked.

The Derek that answered the door was nothing like the Derek that she had seen at the restaurant a week ago. This Derek looked like he hadn't slept, this Derek actually looked a lot like the Derek she had dated. After his sister died. “Can I come in?” she asked him. He stared at her for a few moments longer before stepping aside. He shut the door and followed her into the loft, where he continued to watch her silently. Lydia quickly grew tired of the silence and spun to face him. “You have to do something! He's like a silent movie, he does everything he's supposed to and he gets his point across, but he won't speak!” Derek watched her, arms crossed, thumbs peeking out from the holes in his sweater.

“It's not up to me. He has to hear it from you.”

“Tell him you have my blessing, then! You're obviously better for him than you were for me.”

“You really weren't any good for me, either,” he replied. She huffed an offended sigh and he shook his head. “You weren't there for me, which in turn made it harder for me to be there for you. Understandably, my lack of interest for various reasons led you to find someone else.” Lydia paused warily.

“Your sister died,” she said softly. Derek inclined his head.

“That's correct. But we're not talking about her. We're talking about the fact that you cheated on me, Lydia Martin.” All of the blood drained from her face as she took a step back.

“What? How did you-”

“I saw you while I was on my way home from my therapist. You and your...friend were participating in some definitely more than friends activities in the back of a silver Porsche.” She flushed.

“Jackson knew what I needed,” she protested.

“We slept together frequently, Lydia. That's almost all we did. We didn't go out, we didn't do much of anything but fuck. Also, from what I've heard, Stiles dated Jackson. Which means that you don't follow the rules that you expect others to. Are you still seeing him?”

“That's not the point,” she sputtered, and Derek glared at her, going from the sad Derek that she had dated to the angry one almost immediately.

“It is most definitely the point. You don't want Stiles and I to date because I'm “a bad guy” and I'm “not good for him,” is that right?” he sneered. “And yet, you've been seeing Jackson for more than a year, not only were you cheating on me, but Jackson was cheating on him. Does he know that? That the person Jackson was cheating on him with was you? Did you sit through his tears and feel any sort of guilt at all?” Derek all but growled. Lydia ducked her head and gave a half hearted shrug.

“No, he doesn't know.”

“So why are you trying so hard to keep us apart? We're obviously committed to each other. We trust each other. We really, genuinely like each other, for who the other is. What more could you for him than that?”

“Love,” she replied snappishly. Derek snorted.

“I do love him. If you hadn't realized that by now then you're a moron. Is that it? Do you love Jackson? Did you know that if you hadn't cheated on him with Jackson, but still talked to Stiles about seeing him, then he probably wouldn't have had a problem with it? That he realized that he and Jackson weren't a good fit, and that you two would be better?” 

The truth was that Lydia did know, had realized in the weeks after Stiles and Jackson had broken up, she realized that it was really only her that enforced the rules of their arrangement, that Stiles was so much more accepting of people than she was. And it made him so much better of a person. She really did deserve Jackson.

“You want to be with him?” she asked quietly. He frowned.

“Not that it's really any of your business, but yes, I do. Forever. And he knows that. Now go fix it,” he said as he walked over and opened his door. She looked at him, then crossed the room. She paused just outside the door.

“For what it's worth, I never meant for it to be like this.”

“You just wanted to make sure that Stiles stayed with you, no matter what,” Derek said coldly. “To be your friend, to listen to you, to let you make decisions for him. To tell him who was and wasn't good for him. We're good for each other, and if this week has shown you anything, that should be it.”

\------

Lydia stopped outside the decrepit apartment building in the shadier part of town and looked up at the single window with a light on. Stiles lived in this shit hole even though he made enough money to afford something decent. His excuse was always that it was closer to work than a lot of places. Which while true, also meant that the people who frequented the cells of the police station frequented the streets he lived on. The buzzer panel next to the door only had three names on it, one of them read Stilinski. She pressed the buzzer. When there was no answer, she pressed it again. And again, and again. Finally it crackled to life.

“What, Lydia?”

“Can we talk?” she asked into the metal plate. There was silence for a long time before the door unlocked. Stiles lived on the third of four floors, the carpet on the stairs was worn through in the middle and the paint was peeling off the walls next to the handrails. The windows that appeared infrequently were grimy and yellowed, and all of the doors had places were the varnish had worn away to reveal the natural wood beneath. Stiles door was halfway down the hall, and she knocked quickly, a sharp rap that always alerted him to her presence. It opened far enough for the safety chain to lock and his whiskey eyes peered out at her, red rimmed and brighter than normal.

“Why are you here?” he asked, voice flat.

“I wanted to talk,” she replied. “I went and saw Derek earlier and I needed to talk to you.” He blinked and in the space of a second his eyebrows drew together.

“You talked to Derek?”

“I did. I'd also rather not have this conversation in the hall,” she said as she twisted the hem of her skirt in her fingers as she glanced down the dirty hallway. He shrugged and shut the door while she listened to the slide of the metal chain against the door. It was silent and Lydia turned the knob to enter the apartment. Unlike the rest of the building, Stiles' apartment was bright and cheerful, posters tacked up along the walls and even a row of string lights hung above the widow that opened to the fire escape.

“Spill, Lydia, why are you here?”

Lydia took a deep breath and set her purse on the counter. “I talked to Derek about you two. And about how I was wrong about him, and you, and the two of you together,” she said as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I saw how you were this past week, and I don't want to be the person who turns you into that. So I think you should just,” she paused here and looked at him contemplatively. “I think that we shouldn't have this bargain anymore. You deserve better than that, and I think that what you need is Derek. You did for him what I couldn't, and I shouldn't try and take that away from you.”

Stiles stared at his friend for a long time. 

Lydia stared back until she shifted her weight and sighed. “Well?” she asked.

“I almost don't believe it.”

“What, that I'm a decent human being and all?”

“No, that you said you were wrong.”

Lydia huffed and reached for her purse. “You know, I just came here to help you have a good time, and honestly, I'm feeling so attacked right now.”

Stiles laughed and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a hug. “Thanks, Lyds. But really, if you hadn't come around in a few days, I would have told you that our deal was over and that I was going to be with Derek whether you liked it or not.”

“Well, that probably would have been alright,” she conceded. “I might not have been happy about it, but seeing you happy again wouldn't have been bad.”

Stiles squeezed her once more before he let go and stretched. “I'm gonna head over there now. He's probably expecting me.”

“Geeze, when we dated he never seemed all that happy to see me.”

Stiles had bent over to tie up the laces of his Converse when he paused and stood up again. “You said you guys dated while I was dating Jackson?” he questioned.

“Yes?” Lydia replied warily, eyes narrowing slightly. “Why?”

“Derek said that his last ex cheated on him.”

“Is that so?” Lydia tried to subtly make her way to the door. Stiles moved easily to block her.

“Coincidentally, Jackson cheated on me,” Stiles said, voice getting harder by the word. “And he hasn't been seen with anyone since. Neither have you, Lydia.” His eyes were hard and dark, filled with fury.

“Stiles—”

“No! I can't believe I just made this connection,” he spat. “You go and find the one person I thought was for me and what? Seduce him? Do you know what it's like having someone you care for slowly start letting you go? Not really wanting to touch you, not wanting to talk to you, not wanting to see you? You know what happens? You start feeling worthless, like some crushed you into little pieces and didn't even bother to sweep them up. And you were the one that started that ball rolling? You, Lydia Martin, perfect Lydia, saw something you wanted and took it away from me. How could you?”

“You didn't love him,” she said earnestly. “You knew it and I knew it and he knew it. He didn't love you because he doesn't love anyone.”

“He loved you, back in high school. I know he did, even if he didn't do anything about it. I should have guessed,” he said, turning away from her.

“Stiles, please,” she said, looking at his back. “I know it was wrong, I knew it when it started, but he just started talking to me about you when we were at the same bar one night, and about how he didn't think you'd ever love him, and I was talking about how I didn't think that Derek would ever love me, and then we just sort of left together. I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's what happened. I know that I'll probably never be able to make up for this, and I'll always be sorry about it, but you have to know where I'm coming from. I didn't know that Derek's sister died, and Jackson didn't know it was the anniversary of your mom's death, but you guys were just being terrible that day—”

“We were being terrible?” Stiles asked quietly, breaking into Lydia's speech. “We were being terrible? Did I get the chance to tell you where Derek and I met?” he asked, voice soft, back still turned to her. “We met at the cemetery. Probably the same day you're talking about. Derek was making his weekly flower run, and I was there because it was the anniversary of my mom's death. I actually ran into him, and our flowers got all mixed up. Instead of sorting them out, he just split the pile in half and gave me them. I just started crying and we started talking. That's how our meeting goes. So, as much as I love you, Lydia, I don't want to see you right now. Please leave. I'm going to go see Derek.”

\------

“Hey, what's wrong?” Derek asked as Stiles opened the door to the loft with his key. He set down his book and stood up, walking towards him. “I thought you'd be happy when you got here.”

“I found out who Jackson was cheating on me with,” he said, falling heavily into Derek's chest.

Derek stumbled a little, but got a grip around his shoulders and pulled him closer. “Ah.”

“You don't want to know who it was?”

“It was Lydia,” Derek said easily, bodily walking Stiles over to the couch.

Stiles struggled to pull away, looking up at Derek in alarm. “You knew? How long?”

“I've known for a while. Before you guys broke up. I saw them in his car one night.”

“And you didn't tell me?”

“How was I supposed to know she was your friend?” Derek asked patiently. “The first time I knew who your Lydia was,” he paused. “I was so angry in the restaurant because I knew that she was the one who screwed things up with you and Jackson.”

Stiles leaned his head against Derek's throat. “But that means that we met, so I guess it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. He was a douche anyway.”

“That's what I like to hear,” Derek checked, chest reverberating under Stiles' cheek. “So, now that we're together again after a week, and I don't think Lydia has any say on when we have sex anymore. What do you want to do?”

Stiles smirked up at him.

\------

A week later Stiles sent Lydia every unflattering picture he had of Jackson and a text that just said, “Forgiven. Add yours to this collection for me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Visit me at tomcatgirl.tumblr.com and feel free to send me prompts!


End file.
